But TikTok’s efforts to pay creators have been lackluster. TikTok turned short video clips-usually videos that are one minute or less-into a global phenomenon, luring users from established social media platforms. And many in the industry believe that platform payments could become a decisive factor in the short-form video wars. YouTube, TikTok, Meta’s Instagram and Facebook, as well as Snapchat are all angling to become the platform of choice for social media creators. The comparison with TikTok is crucial not just for creators like Eckstein, but for the platforms themselves.

“It is a little bit less than I thought it would be, but I’m happy it’s bigger than the TikTok Creator Fund,” she tells Fortune. That would be cause for celebration for many creators, but relative to the size of Pink Shirt Couple’s audience–the high jinks and comedy sketch clips have amassed 979 million views on YouTube in the past 28 days-and going ad rates, Eckstein was expecting even more. So far, Eckstein says she’s made about $12,000 since YouTube started sharing revenue with Shorts creators on Feb. Two weeks into YouTube’s new Shorts revenue-sharing program, the paychecks are already coming in. “I was really excited to see what would happen and how much the pay would be,” Eckstein says of YouTube Shorts’ new revenue-sharing program. Part of what drove the decision was YouTube’s pledge to share advertising revenue with creators of short-form videos-Pink Shirt Couple’s favorite format-beginning in February. They would focus entirely on creating content for their millions of followers rather than chasing sponsorship deals.

As 2022 came to a close, the couple made a bold choice.

Tiktok vs youtube